Automatic capture of data for acquisition of metadata

ABSTRACT

A television receiver device consistent with certain implementations has a display associated with the television receiver device. A filter converts a stream of audio/video content that is to be displayed on the display associated with the television receiver device into a stream of digital audio data. A buffer stores a sample of the digital audio data. A modem transmits the sample of audio data from the buffer to a content identification server and that receives metadata identifying the audio data from the content identification server. A display processor renders at least a portion of the metadata to the display. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract.

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialwhich is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction of the patent document or thepatent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Officepatent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rightswhatsoever. Trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

BACKGROUND

Companies such as Gracenote, Inc. are in the content identificationbusiness. They have technology that can be used to provide metadata thatidentifies, for example, songs, artists, albums, etc. from samples ofthe songs that are sent to their servers. This process is usedcommercially by numerous manufacturers of hardware and software playerssuch as compact disc (CD) players.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Certain illustrative embodiments illustrating organization and method ofoperation, together with objects and advantages may be best understoodby reference detailed description that follows taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an example system diagram of an example TV system consistentwith certain embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 depicts an example TV display consistent with certain embodimentsof the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an example block diagram of a TV receiver device consistentwith certain embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of an example process consistent with certainembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is another flow chart of another example process consistent withcertain embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is another flow chart of an example process for determining ifaudio contains music attributes consistent with certain embodiments ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many differentforms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described indetail specific embodiments, with the understanding that the presentdisclosure of such embodiments is to be considered as an example of theprinciples and not intended to limit the invention to the specificembodiments shown and described. In the description below, likereference numerals are used to describe the same, similar orcorresponding parts in the several views of the drawings.

The terms “a” or “an”, as used herein, are defined as one or more thanone. The term “plurality”, as used herein, is defined as two or morethan two. The term “another”, as used herein, is defined as at least asecond or more. The terms “including” and/or “having”, as used herein,are defined as comprising (i.e., open language). The term “coupled”, asused herein, is defined as connected, although not necessarily directly,and not necessarily mechanically. The term “program” or “computerprogram” or similar terms, as used herein, is defined as a sequence ofinstructions designed for execution on a computer system. A “program”,or “computer program”, may include a subroutine, a function, aprocedure, an object method, an object implementation, in an executableapplication, an applet, a servlet, a source code, an object code, ashared library/dynamic load library and/or other sequence ofinstructions designed for execution on a computer system. The term“processor”, “controller”, “CPU”, “Computer” and the like as used hereinencompasses both hard programmed, special purpose, general purpose andprogrammable devices and may encompass a plurality of such devices or asingle device in either a distributed or centralized configurationwithout limitation.

The term “program”, as used herein, may also be used in a second context(the above definition being for the first context). In the secondcontext, the term is used in the sense of a “television program”. Inthis context, the term is used to mean any coherent sequence of audiovideo content such as those which would be interpreted as and reportedin an electronic program guide (EPG) as a single television program,without regard for whether the content is a movie, sporting event,segment of a multi-part series, news broadcast, etc. The term may alsobe interpreted to encompass commercial spots and other program-likecontent which may not be reported as a program in an electronic programguide.

Reference throughout this document to “one embodiment”, “certainembodiments”, “an embodiment”, “an example”, “an implementation” orsimilar terms means that a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic described in connection with the embodiment, example orimplementation is included in at least one embodiment, example orimplementation of the present invention. Thus, the appearances of suchphrases or in various places throughout this specification are notnecessarily all referring to the same embodiment, example orimplementation. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, orcharacteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or moreembodiments, examples or implementations without limitation.

The term “or” as used herein is to be interpreted as an inclusive ormeaning any one or any combination. Therefore, “A, B or C” means “any ofthe following: A; B; C; A and B; A and C; B and C; A, B and C”. Anexception to this definition will occur only when a combination ofelements, functions, steps or acts are in some way inherently mutuallyexclusive.

As noted previously, companies such as Gracenote, Inc. are in thecontent identification business. They have technology that can be usedto provide metadata that identifies, for example, songs, artists,albums, etc. from samples of the songs that are sent to their servers.This process is used commercially by numerous manufacturers of hardwareand software players such as compact disc (CD) players. In general,Gracenote's algorithms for content (i.e., music) identification thatruns on their content identification servers require a sample of sixseconds of PCM audio. Accordingly, this example will be used throughout,but should not be considered limiting since other algorithms may bedevised that use a shorter or longer sample.

In order to use this technology with a television, to identify a songwithin a television program, one can capture six seconds of audio andsend the audio to the content identification server. However, thisresults in a delay which may be undesirable to some users. This problemcan be overcome in the TV device by continuously capturing the audio (orvideo data) and sending the data to a content identification server toacquire the metadata of content being played.

It will be appreciated that while the present example depicts capturingaudio data for identification of a song, similar processes can becarried out by capture of video, audio/video (A/V) or other contentwithout limitation.

In certain instances, when a song is playing during a TV program, theviewer may wish to find out information about the song. Unfortunately,using known technology, the user cannot currently find the musicmetadata unless it form a a part of the TV program so that the metadatais shown on the screen as part of the TV program. While the metadatacould be inserted into the television program's video signal, thisrequires modification for both receiver side and transmission side.

In accord with certain implementations consistent with the presentinvention, while the TV plays audio or video, it also continuouslycaptures the audio or video data and sends a sample of the data to acontent identification server in order to to acquire the metadata ofcontent being played. Since the metadata is being acquired from servercontinuously (or on user demand) the device can show the metadata on theTV display.

Instead of sending the data to server continuously, the televisiondevice can hold the data using a circular buffer so that when userinitiates acquisition of the metadata at any time and the most recentsix seconds of valid audio will be sent. The TV device already has themusic sample data and can send the sample data to the server immediatelyrather than having to first capture the data and then send the data tothe content identification server and encounter undesirable delays. Thisspeeds up the process by at least about six seconds according to presentsample requirements.

Hence, in one example process: 1. The TV decodes and displays a TV showswhich are received over a digital channel. 2. While TV decodes thedigital video and audio, it captures decoded audio data, which may bepulse code modulated (PCM) data. 3. Once the TV captures six seconds ofaudio, a check can be performed to see if the six second sample is validaudio, and if so, send the data to a content identification server—inthis case, a music identification server. 4. If the metadata which wasreceived from music identification server was valid, then the TV canshow the metadata on the screen so that the music is identified to theuser. 5. Add the song metadata into database with current TV programdata. 6. User launches song history, and is able to see all song historywith related TV program data.

FIG. 1 is an example system diagram of an example TV system consistentwith certain embodiments of the present invention. The system includes aTV monitor 10 that displays TV programs in a more or less conventionalmanner under control by the user generally using a remote controller 14.In order to obtain access to the functionality discussed herein, the TVmonitor (or other connected receiver such as a TV set top box or otherInternet enabled appliance) is connected via the Internet 18 to aContent Identification Server 22 such as those available commerciallyfrom content identification services such as Gracenote as previouslydiscussed. The Internet connection can also be used by the TV receiversystem to obtain electronic program guide (EPG) data from an online EPGserver such as 26.

As described above, when the metadata for a particular song that isplaying on the TV is identified, it can be displayed on the TV monitor10 as depicted in FIG. 2. As shown, the TV program plays normally, andthe metadata in the form of song title and artist is displayed asoverlay graphics 30. Any other form of display of the metadata can beused including transparent windows and the like, and other metadataincluding album and further artist information or album graphics can beutilized. It will be understood that the illustration of FIG. 2 ismerely intended as one illustration of the possibilities and notintended to be limiting.

FIG. 3 is an example partial block diagram of a TV receiver device 50consistent with certain embodiments of the present invention, whereinonly the functional blocks used to implement the present functionalityis depicted. In this example, a receiver 54 or other data source or datainterface (e.g., an Internet interface) receives digital A/V contentfrom a source such as a cable network, satellite network, Telco,broadcaster or via the Internet and produces an output data transportstream carrying packetized audio, video and support data (e.g., PSIPdata and the like). These packets are filtered (e.g., by packetidentifier) and stripped of all packet overhead using a packet filter 58in order to produce a qualified stream of compressed PCM audio data(e.g., using SDK compression or other standard specified by the contentidentification service) suitable for use by the content identificationserver. Such format is specified by the content identification serviceso as to standardize the data received for identification.

In accord with certain embodiments, this audio data can be continuouslystored in a six second (or other suitable time) circular buffer 62 thatpermits the data to be immediately accessed for transmission to thecontent identification server 22 via modem 66 that is provided with aURI suitable for access to the server 22 via Internet 18. The contentidentification server 22 returns metadata if it can identify the songand this metadata are parsed in a metadata parser 70, which may operateas a process running on the system control processor 74. The parsedmetadata can then be passed to a graphics overlay processor 78 forrendering to display driver 82 and TV monitor display 86.

The entire system operates under control of the system control processor74 which has associated storage (RAM, ROM, etc.) 90, with controlprocessor 74 interfacing with each functional block as required andreceiving commands from remote controller 14 via remote control commandreceiver 94 in any suitable manner.

While this depiction shows storage of six seconds of audio, this isbecause a six second sample is used by Gracenote, Inc. for songrecognition and is therefore shown in the example depicted above. But ingeneral the sample should be long enough for recognition by any suitablecontent identification service. Further, the present concept can beextended to storage of a sample of video that is long enough for thevideo to be identified by content identification server 22, and for thesystem to then access EPG server 26 to obtain additional informationregarding video information via video metadata. Other variations willoccur to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the presentteachings.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a first example process 100 consistent withcertain embodiments of the present invention starting at 104 after whichthe system determines if the audio capture feature described is turnedon at 108. If not, the remainder of the process can be defeated untilthe feature is turned on. If the capture feature is turned on at 108,the circular buffer begins capturing audio at 112 and continuouslyupdates the audio so that at least six seconds (for the Gracenoteimplementation) of audio is always available. If the user determinesthat there is a song of interest playing as the audio at 116, then he orshe may wish to identify the song.

Once the buffer has six seconds of music data stored, a request can bemade to the server at 124 to identify the song. This can occur in oneembodiment as a result of a user request at 120 (shown in dashed linesto indicate that it is optional), or as a matter of course wherein theserver query can be carried out using any other mechanism (for example,a time criteria of every 90 seconds or so). The request at 124 caninclude conversion of the six seconds of audio into a smaller sized filerepresenting a signature of the music sample that is used to identifythe music.

If the content identification server is unable to identify the contentand sends a failure notice instead of metadata at 128, a failure messagemay be briefly presented as a screen overlay at 132. However, ifmetadata are received at 128, the song metadata may be stored to memoryat 136. In certain implementations, the song metadata can be added to adatabase with or without current TV program data. In certainimplementations, the song metadata can also be added to a song historylist so that the user can launch a song history list command, andthereby retrieve from memory a list of songs identified with or withoutrelated TV program data. The storage as a database or list is depictedas 140 and this data are then accessible by user command either directlyfrom a remote control or from a TV menu system such as a cross-media barmenu system.

If an option of display of the metadata is turned on at 144, the parsedmetadata can be displayed to an overlay window or otherwise on the TVscreen at 148 so that the user can identify relevant information aboutthe song such as title, artist, author, album, etc. or even display anicon obtained from the content identification database representingalbum graphics. Other variations will occur to those skilled in the artupon consideration of the present teachings.

FIG. 5 shows one such variation with all operations being essentiallythe same as described in connection with FIG. 4. However, in thisexample, when a sample is identified by the system as having songattributes, the system requests the metadata without user prompting.Again, this could be carried out on a periodic basis or whenever a songis determined to be playing because the sample has song attributes. Inthis example, however, the metadata are already stored in memory and isnot displayed until the user requests song info at 120. The information,in this case, can often be displayed immediately since it will have beenpreviously requested and received. In a further variant, 120 can beomitted as indicated by the broken lines and any time a song isidentified its metadata can be displayed.

The analysis of the song to determine if it has song attributes ispreferably done at the audio decoder level and possibly using hardwareacceleration. This can be accomplished in a number of ways. One exampleis depicted in FIG. 6 starting at 200 where first the audio stream istested to see if it is a flat frequency signal at 204, which may be amonotone or a pretty much silent stream. If so, the audio is unlikely tobe a song and/or is unsuitable to produce a signature and controlreturns to 204 for the next analysis. If the audio stream passes thetest, the audio stream passed through a set of filters at 208. One suchfilter will be similar and repetitive frequencies as such frequenciesoften resembling noise in the TV program or commercial are detected.Another such filter is a set of frequencies corresponding to normalconversational human speech, which represents a typical news reportingsituation. If after such filtering at 208 the resultant audio stream isstill not pretty much flat in frequency response (i.e., it has distincthigh and low frequencies), it is relatively certain that there is musicin the audio stream at 212. The original audio stream (or its compressedsignature) can then be sent to the content identification server at 216.Also, it is noted that since content identification is user-initiated,one can expect that the past 6 sec of audio stream has something worthidentifying, and hence send it up to the content identification serverwithout a music check. The server will merely return a negative resultif the audio stream is not a recognized as piece of music.

Also, in order to conserve memory space and have the option of storingmore copies of past audio streams so that users can access beyond thepast 6 seconds (e.g., access audio streams 30 sec earlier), the audiostreams can be compressed into signature files which the contentidentification server recognizes and expects. The corresponding audioinformation can be tagged (as to whether it is a song and the time stamp(to the signature files.) Thus, a television receiver device consistentwith certain embodiments has a display associated with the televisionreceiver device. A filter converts a stream of audio/video content thatis to be displayed on the display associated with the televisionreceiver device into a stream of PCM digital audio data, wherein thefilter separates the audio from audio video content by use of packetidentifiers to separate audio packets from other packets and producesthe stream of digital audio data by removing packet overhead from theaudio packets. A circular buffer stores a sample of approximately sixseconds in duration of the digital audio data. A modem transmits thesample of audio data from the buffer to a content identification serverand that receives metadata identifying the audio data from the contentidentification server. A storage device stores the metadata to adatabase or history list. A metadata parser selects predefined elementsof metadata from the metadata for display on the display. A graphicsoverlay processor generates a graphics overlay containing the metadata.Either the sample of audio data is sent to the content identificationserver upon receipt of a user command from a remote control or themetadata is rendered to the display upon receipt of a user command froma remote control.

Another television receiver device has a display associated with thetelevision receiver device. A filter converts a stream of audio/videocontent that is to be displayed on the display associated with thetelevision receiver device into a stream of digital audio data. A bufferstores a sample of the digital audio data. A modem transmits the sampleof audio data from the buffer to a content identification server andthat receives metadata identifying the audio data from the contentidentification server. A display processor renders at least a portion ofthe metadata to the display.

In certain implementations, the digital audio data comprises Pulse CodeModulated (PCM) audio data. In certain implementations, the buffercomprises a circular buffer that continuously stores a defined quantityof audio data. In certain implementations, the defined quantity of audiodata comprises approximately six seconds of audio. In certainimplementations, the filter separates the audio from audio video contentby use of packet identifiers to separate audio packets from otherpackets and produces the stream of digital audio data by removing packetoverhead from the audio packets. In certain implementations, a metadataparser selects predefined elements of metadata from the metadata fordisplay on the display. In certain implementations, the displayprocessor comprises a graphics overlay processor that generates agraphics overlay containing the metadata. In certain implementations,the sample of audio data is sent to the content identification serverupon receipt of a user command from a remote control. In certainimplementations, the metadata is rendered to the display upon receipt ofa user command from a remote control. In certain implementations, themetadata are stored to a database or history list on a storage device.

A television receiver device consistent with certain implementations hasa display associated with the television receiver device. A filterconverts a stream of audio/video content that is to be displayed on thedisplay associated with the television receiver device into a stream ofdigital content of a specified category. A buffer stores a sample of thedigital content. A modem transmits the sample of digital content fromthe buffer to a content identification server and that receives metadataidentifying the digital content from the content identification server.A display processor renders at least a portion of the metadata to thedisplay.

In certain implementations, the content comprises video content data. Incertain implementations, the buffer comprises a circular buffer thatcontinuously stores a defined quantity of the content. In certainimplementations, the filter separates the specified category of contentby use of packet identifiers to separate the specified category ofcontent from other packets and produces the stream of digital content byremoving packet overhead from packets of the specified category. Incertain implementations, a metadata parser selects predefined elementsof metadata from the metadata for display on the display. In certainimplementations, the display processor comprises a graphics overlayprocessor that generates a graphics overlay containing the metadata. Incertain implementations, the sample of content is sent to the contentidentification server upon receipt of a user command from a remotecontrol. In certain implementations, the metadata is rendered to thedisplay upon receipt of a user command from a remote control. In certainimplementations, the metadata are stored to a database or history liston a storage device.

A method of rendering content metadata to a display associated with atelevision receiver device in a manner consistent with certainembodiments involves providing a display associated with the televisionreceiver device; converting a stream of audio/video content that is tobe displayed on the display associated with the television receiverdevice into a stream of digital audio data; buffering a sample of thedigital audio data in a buffer storage device; transmitting the sampleof audio data from the buffer to a content identification server;receiving metadata identifying the audio data from the contentidentification server; and rendering at least a portion of the metadatato the display.

In certain implementations, the digital audio data comprises Pulse CodeModulated (PCM) audio data. In certain implementations, the buffering iscarried out in a circular buffer that continuously stores a definedquantity of audio data. In certain implementations, the defined quantityof audio data comprises approximately six seconds of audio. In certainimplementations, the filtering separates the audio from audio videocontent by use of packet identifiers to separate audio packets fromother packets and produces the stream of digital audio data by removingpacket overhead from the audio packets. In certain implementations, themethod further involves parsing the metadata to select predefinedelements of metadata from the metadata for display on the display. Incertain implementations, the predefined elements of metadata arerendered to the display using a graphics overlay processor thatgenerates a graphics overlay containing the metadata. In certainimplementations, the sample of audio data is sent to the contentidentification server upon receipt of a user command from a remotecontrol. In certain implementations, the metadata is rendered to thedisplay upon receipt of a user command from a remote control. In certainimplementations, the method further involves storing the metadata to adatabase or history list on a storage device. In certainimplementations, prior to transmitting a determination can be made as towhether the audio sample has song attributes.

Any of the above methods can be carried out using a tangible computerreadable electronic storage medium storing instructions which, whenexecuted on one or more programmed processors, carry out the method.

It is noted that while the above examples have focused on theidentification of music within a television program, the same type oftechnology could be readily modified to sample and identify video ortext or other types of content.

Those skilled in the art will recognize, upon consideration of the aboveteachings, that certain of the above exemplary embodiments are basedupon use of a programmed processor. However, the invention is notlimited to such exemplary embodiments, since other embodiments could beimplemented using hardware component equivalents such as special purposehardware and/or dedicated processors. Similarly, general purposecomputers, microprocessor based computers, micro-controllers, opticalcomputers, analog computers, dedicated processors, application specificcircuits and/or dedicated hard wired logic may be used to constructalternative equivalent embodiments.

Certain embodiments described herein, are or may be implemented using aprogrammed processor executing programming instructions that are broadlydescribed above in flow chart form that can be stored on any suitableelectronic or computer readable storage medium. However, those skilledin the art will appreciate, upon consideration of the present teaching,that the processes described above can be implemented in any number ofvariations and in many suitable programming languages without departingfrom embodiments of the present invention. For example, the order ofcertain operations carried out can often be varied, additionaloperations can be added or operations can be deleted without departingfrom certain embodiments of the invention. Error trapping can be addedand/or enhanced and variations can be made in user interface andinformation presentation without departing from certain embodiments ofthe present invention. Such variations are contemplated and consideredequivalent.

While certain embodiments herein were described in conjunction withspecific circuitry that carries out the functions described, otherembodiments are contemplated in which the circuit functions are carriedout using equivalent executed on one or more programmed processors.General purpose computers, microprocessor based computers,micro-controllers, optical computers, analog computers, dedicatedprocessors, application specific circuits and/or dedicated hard wiredlogic and analog circuitry may be used to construct alternativeequivalent embodiments. Other embodiments could be implemented usinghardware component equivalents such as special purpose hardware and/ordedicated processors.

Certain embodiments may be implemented using a programmed processorexecuting programming instructions that in certain instances are broadlydescribed above in flow chart form that can be stored on any suitableelectronic or computer readable storage medium (such as, for example,disc storage, Read Only Memory (ROM) devices, Random Access Memory (RAM)devices, network memory devices, optical storage elements, magneticstorage elements, magneto-optical storage elements, flash memory, corememory and/or other equivalent volatile and non-volatile storagetechnologies) and/or can be transmitted over any suitable electroniccommunication medium. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate,upon consideration of the present teaching, that the processes describedabove can be implemented in any number of variations and in manysuitable programming languages without departing from embodiments of thepresent invention. For example, the order of certain operations carriedout can often be varied, additional operations can be added oroperations can be deleted without departing from certain embodiments ofthe invention. Error trapping can be added and/or enhanced andvariations can be made in user interface and information presentationwithout departing from certain embodiments of the present invention.Such variations are contemplated and considered equivalent.

While certain illustrative embodiments have been described, it isevident that many alternatives, modifications, permutations andvariations will become apparent to those skilled in the art in light ofthe foregoing description.

1. A television receiver device, comprising: a display associated withthe television receiver device; a filter that converts a stream ofaudio/video content that is to be displayed on the display associatedwith the television receiver device into a stream of PCM digital audiodata, wherein the filter separates the audio from audio video content byuse of packet identifiers to separate audio packets from other packetsand produces the stream of digital audio data by removing packetoverhead from the audio packets; a circular buffer that stores a sampleof approximately six seconds in duration of the digital audio data; amodem that transmits the sample of audio data from the buffer to acontent identification server and that receives metadata identifying theaudio data from the content identification server; a storage device,wherein the metadata are stored to a database or history list on astorage device; a metadata parser that selects predefined elements ofmetadata from the metadata for display on the display; a graphicsoverlay processor that generates a graphics overlay containing themetadata; and wherein either the sample of audio data is sent to thecontent identification server upon receipt of a user command from aremote control or the metadata is rendered to the display upon receiptof a user command from a remote control.
 2. A television receiverdevice, comprising: a display associated with the television receiverdevice; a filter that converts a stream of audio/video content that isto be displayed on the display associated with the television receiverdevice into a stream of digital audio data; a buffer that stores asample of the digital audio data; a modem that transmits the sample ofaudio data from the buffer to a content identification server and thatreceives metadata identifying the audio data from the contentidentification server; and a display processor that renders at least aportion of the metadata to the display.
 3. The television receiverdevice according to claim 2, wherein the digital audio data comprisesPulse Code Modulated (PCM) audio data.
 4. The television receiver deviceaccording to claim 2, wherein the buffer comprises a circular bufferthat continuously stores a defined quantity of audio data.
 5. Thetelevision receiver device according to claim 4, wherein the definedquantity of audio data comprises approximately six seconds of audio. 6.The television receiver device according to claim 2, wherein the filterseparates the audio from audio video content by use of packetidentifiers to separate audio packets from other packets and producesthe stream of digital audio data by removing packet overhead from theaudio packets.
 7. The television receiver device according to claim 2,further comprising a metadata parser that selects predefined elements ofmetadata from the metadata for display on the display.
 8. The televisionreceiver according to claim 2, wherein the display processor comprises agraphics overlay processor that generates a graphics overlay containingthe metadata.
 9. The television receiver according to claim 2, whereinthe sample of audio data is sent to the content identification serverupon receipt of a user command from a remote control.
 10. The televisionreceiver according to claim 2, wherein the metadata is rendered to thedisplay upon receipt of a user command from a remote control.
 11. Thetelevision receiver according to claim 2, wherein the metadata arestored to a database or history list on a storage device.
 12. Atelevision receiver device, comprising: a display associated with thetelevision receiver device; a filter that converts a stream ofaudio/video content that is to be displayed on the display associatedwith the television receiver device into a stream of digital content ofa specified category; a buffer that stores a sample of the digitalcontent; a modem that transmits the sample of digital content from thebuffer to a content identification server and that receives metadataidentifying the digital content from the content identification server;and a display processor that renders at least a portion of the metadatato the display.
 13. The television receiver device according to claim12, wherein the content comprises video content data.
 14. The televisionreceiver device according to claim 12, wherein the buffer comprises acircular buffer that continuously stores a defined quantity of thecontent.
 15. The television receiver device according to claim 12,wherein the filter separates the specified category of content by use ofpacket identifiers to separate the specified category of content fromother packets and produces the stream of digital content by removingpacket overhead from packets of the specified category.
 16. Thetelevision receiver device according to claim 12, further comprising ametadata parser that selects predefined elements of metadata from themetadata for display on the display.
 17. The television receiveraccording to claim 12, wherein the display processor comprises agraphics overlay processor that generates a graphics overlay containingthe metadata.
 18. The television receiver according to claim 12, whereinthe sample of content is sent to the content identification server uponreceipt of a user command from a remote control.
 19. The televisionreceiver according to claim 12, wherein the metadata is rendered to thedisplay upon receipt of a user command from a remote control.
 20. Thetelevision receiver according to claim 12, wherein the metadata arestored to a database or history list on a storage device.
 21. A methodof rendering content metadata to a display associated with a televisionreceiver device, comprising: providing a display associated with thetelevision receiver device; converting a stream of audio/video contentthat is to be displayed on the display associated with the televisionreceiver device into a stream of digital audio data; buffering a sampleof the digital audio data in a buffer storage device; transmitting thesample of audio data from the buffer to a content identification server;receiving metadata identifying the audio data from the contentidentification server; and rendering at least a portion of the metadatato the display.
 22. The method according to claim 21, wherein thedigital audio data comprises Pulse Code Modulated (PCM) audio data. 23.The method according to claim 21, wherein the buffering is carried outin a circular buffer that continuously stores a defined quantity ofaudio data.
 24. The method according to claim 23, wherein the definedquantity of audio data comprises approximately six seconds of audio. 25.The method according to claim 21, wherein the filtering separates theaudio from audio video content by use of packet identifiers to separateaudio packets from other packets and produces the stream of digitalaudio data by removing packet overhead from the audio packets.
 26. Themethod according to claim 21, further comprising parsing the metadata toselect predefined elements of metadata from the metadata for display onthe display.
 27. The method according to claim 21, wherein thepredefined elements of metadata are rendered to the display using agraphics overlay processor that generates a graphics overlay containingthe metadata.
 28. The method according to claim 21, wherein the sampleof audio data is sent to the content identification server upon receiptof a user command from a remote control.
 29. The method according toclaim 21, wherein the metadata is rendered to the display upon receiptof a user command from a remote control.
 30. The method according toclaim 21, further comprising storing the metadata to a database orhistory list on a storage device.
 31. The method according to claim 21,further comprising determining if the audio has song attributes prior tothe transmitting.
 32. A tangible computer readable electronic storagemedium storing instructions which, when executed on one or moreprogrammed processors, carry out a method according to claim 21.